Molten metal, in particular molten steel, is often poured from one metallurgical vessel to another. For example, molten metal may be poured from a furnace into a ladle, and then from a ladle into a tundish and from a tundish into a mold. Ladles typically have a generally horizontal or flat circular bottom with a vertically arranged side wall, sometimes referred to as a “barrel.” The bottom and side wall have a lining made of refractory materials. It is known to use impact pads to try to control the incoming stream of molten metal to reduce erosion of the lining, and to effect certain desirable flow patterns inside the ladle. Accordingly, an impact pad may be located in the bottom lining to receive the impact of the stream of molten metal as it is being poured into the ladle.
The worst wear to ladles is often observed in the region where the bottom meets the side wall proximate to the impact pad. High wear occurs in this region due to splashing and turbulence of the molten metal as it hits the impact pad.
Prior efforts to reduce wear to the ladle include the following: providing a raised or thicker impact area in the bottom of the ladle; casting wall protectors proximate to the impact pad; using domed or pyramid shaped impact pads to divide liquid flow; using higher quality and/or thicker bricks for the side wall of the ladle proximate to the impact area; and combinations thereof.
Each of the foregoing approaches has drawbacks. In this regard, providing a raised or thicker impact area in the bottom of the ladle may increase the life of the impact pad, but it does not provide protection for the ladle side wall. Casting wall protectors requires significant labor and downtime to set a form, cast and set the castable material, and remove the form following setting of the castable material. Domed and pyramid shaped impact pads may redirect flow of the molten metal to other regions of the ladle, but do not minimize turbulence. Consequently, wear may simply occur in a different region of the ladle. Using higher quality and/or thicker bricks for the side wall requires additional expense that does not address the underlying cause of the wear problem.
The present invention overcomes these and other problems and provides an impact pad that controls the flow of the molten metal to reduce wear to a metallurgical vessel caused by splashing and turbulence of the molten metal.